Covid 19 - June 2020

 -Yet another month passes and there are signs that the lockdown is starting to lift but unfortunately our June and July meetings have been cancelled so here is my third Covid 19 blog posting.

From Ann's May newsletter
A small challenge for us - postcard!
 
If like me, you are sometimes finding it hard to concentrate on anything creative, we thought it might be nice to have a very small challenge for us all to start and finish in time for the next blog at the end of June! We are suggesting we make a postcard size piece of art, on any theme you want, flowers, your garden, a holiday – and it can be stitched, embroidered, printed so anything you like.

Once completed - or by 30 June, send Ros ([email protected]) a picture of your postcard, and then she can do a great display of them on the July blog (to be published 6 July). We will also then have the beginnings of our exhibition for next year!! So we have 4 weeks to do this challenge. 

Below you will see photos and messages from our members this month.

Message from Clare
Thank you Clare, Ros
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Hopefully you will be able to walk over those hills very soon.

Message from Linda W.  
Thank you Linda, Ros

This is a feeble attempt at bringing the seaside to Wiltshire.  Hey ho hopefully reality will be with us soon .

Message from Annie F
Thank you Annie, Ros
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Here are my offerings for June.

The shawl is knitted from feather light 4 ply yarn spun and dyed using natural dyes in Shetland and it's a joy to work with even though some of the dye tends to come off on your fingers as you knit!
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I have also finished my climate change challenge piece at last.  Called The Second Flood it's a mixture of applique, hand and machine embroidery on a cotton fabric and represents a flooded coastal village churchyard.

Message from Lindsay
Thank you Lindsay, Ros.
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Well, the downstairs painting is done so I am finally getting started on a piece of work I want to have at the top of my stairs !!

There was an article in the April issue of Be Creative with Workbox on a quilting artist called Emily Taylor.  Very inspiring ideas which I am trying to replicate using flowers from my garden right now. The iris look stunning so they are my starting flowers. I shall also do allium, clematis and Californian poppies.  Maybe some hosta too as I  love those and have quite a few!

Basically, the background is fabric that was  dyed with brusho, in the garden on a sunny day, and then the gravel underneath hosed down afterwards !!  A selection of fabrics were backed with heatbond and then the petals were made from lots of small shapes.
The designs were traced onto baking parchment, working from the back and overlapping each piece slightly so the whole piece can be carefully peeled off.

More blooms to come in the next couple of months!!!

Message from Robina
Thank you Robina, Ros
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​Dear All,
 
I’ve been sketching in the garden and making another frock. I don’t think I’ve shown you this one before. I ran out of fabric for the sleeves so I found some plain jersey and painted some floral bits onto paper with the dyes and then ironed them onto my sleeves, before  construction. I’ve also been putting some paintings into repeat and wishing I could get them printed to cover our grotty settee! then seeing the Embroiderers guild sight made me really jealous , thanks for sending all those things to inspire us.

Message from Hazel

Finally got around to using my fabric paints (bought in October) and Stencil (from Santa).
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Not sure why I take so long to get going - but enjoying this freehand stitching - keeps me awake in the evenings!

Message from me, Ros
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About six years ago I met a girl from Luxembourg at a Distant Stitch Summer School and we have kept in touch, meeting up whenever she came to the UK.  You can imagine my horror when I saw a note on Facebook in March saying Pascale had just been diagnosed with Covid 19.  Each week we waited patiently for news from her family and after 30 days in an artificial coma we heard that she was out of intensive care but not able to walk or talk.  Sian Martin who runs Distant Stitch suggested members might like to make something for Pascale and below is my piece of Indian blitz to cheer her up.  We are now in regular contact via WhatsApp.  She has started a very long road to recovery, first learning to walk aided, then on a frame and finally by herself.  Last week she saw her family for the first time in over two months so you can imagine the scene.  Pascale is considerably younger than me but although she is still very weak, we can still chat about textiles and stitching. 

The braid, Vernice is from "our" haberdashery shop in Jaipur.  Happy memories :-)

Message from Annie J
Thank you so much Annie, Ros

​I have really enjoyed the 7 weeks of challenges with Textileartist.org where else could you have workshops with Sue Stone, Cas Holmes, Emily Tull, Richard McVetis, Emily Jo Gibbs, Anne Kelly and Christine Chester. I hope some of you have been joining in too. They have now started a Stitch club which you do have to pay for but you get 3 workshops every month from different textile artists. 
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I’ve just finished the first one with Debbie Lyddon and can’t wait for next week. The challenge was to make 3 hand stitched containers for 3 ‘special’ objects. I chose 3 shells from a Cornish beach and have decided to hang my containers on driftwood - quite pleased with the result.

Message from Maria
Thank you Maria.  I think a lot of us have been enjoying Grayson Perry's programme on a Monday evening.  Can't believe it is the last one tonight!  Ros

During the last month I have continued to make a few scrubs. The ones shown here were a pretty umbrella and wellie print which I thought would make a rather fetching tabbard  for myself but sadly there was insufficient fabric!

​A more personal project consisted of making a snuggle bunny for my newly born grandson Zach. It should have been straight forward, and had I followed the instructions probably would have been, but I though I knew better! Nevertheless, he turned out to be rather cute.

Having seen all the amazing portraits stimulated by the Grayson Perry programme, I thought I might have a go myself as a prequel to an embroidered version. I have always admired the local artist Hashim Akib so followed his portrait 'how to' using a photo of my granddaughter (who is 11). Unwittingly it turned out more like my daughter who is 35 years older! But even she would be mortified at the result!!!

As the old films used to say, "That's all folks" and I look forward to hearing from you with your postcard contributions by the end of June.

​Stay safe, keep smiling and happy stitching.  

​Ros